Foggy Friday

I've spent this past week working from home because I'm visiting my parents.

My mom teaches pre-school, which is to say she has a lot of patience (today, a student drew red dots all over herself with a marker). And my dad works in roofing and siding--he works with contractors--and he coaches the swim team. He got into coaching because I was a swimmer, but he still coaches and I haven't been a swimmer in over 12 years, so this must be his labor of love.

This isn't where I grew up (which is a good thing because the hot water only stays hot for a few minutes at a time and my teenage self would have had many meltdowns about that). But now they live in a cute little town called Bristol Borough.

It's sandwiched between the Delaware River (south of where George Washington crossed)...

(This is the view behind the library by the way). 

...and the canal, which conveniently has a nice running trail along side of it.

Since today was slightly warmer than the last few days have been. I donned my running shoes and went out for a jog.

(I made these at Nike ID on 5th avenue--the green glows in the dark!--they're cool enough to be an incentive to wear them)

Despite how much warmer it was today, there was still a lot of ice--on the canal, floating down the river, and also on the sidewalks (which was a nice excuse for me to pause and walk a few many times).

(If I hung out with these guys, I'd be trying to migrate south. Actually I think I'd relocate south.)

(the trial includes this beautifully creepy-in-today's-foggy-weather path)

Bristol has been around forever (at least for a small American town). It's full of old homes, with porches and balconies, perched on brick sidewalks (which get really icy!). 

My favorites are the Victorian ones, especially this one, which is on the same street as my parents' house. It's especially festive over the winter.

The "main" street is full of cafes and shops (including two tattoo parlors). My stomach growled as I ran up the street--one of the cafes was definitely making cinnamon rolls or something quite divine.

It leads right to the river, and the ferry station (only open when it's warmer)

 On my way back towards the house, I ran by the Amish market and furniture store.

I stopped inside...

And ended up with a potted basil plant to take home to the NY apartment. It was the only thing I really have space for!

Now I've got a cup of tea and some edits to work on. 

I head back to NY tomorrow, which I'm happy about. The dogs quite like it here with the whole backyard and the extra space and sunlight that comes through the window in the afternoon. 

And of course, they like that they're allowed to get up on the couch whenever they want.

All in all, it's been a good week and this was a good Friday evening. But I can't wait to be home. 

On Resolutions

I haven't made any New Years resolutions in the last few years. It didn't seem like there was a point, I never achieved them. I got frustrated and quit.

This year, though, I tried to do something a little different. After reading Jessica Spotswood's brilliant post on 2013 as a learning year, I started thinking. The post resonated with me. I'd been feeling similar things. As a result, lately in my writing I've been trying to focus on what I can control. 

Book sales and reviews and a lot of what happens after a book is published are so often out of my hands and worrying about those aspects of publishing can be stressful and frustrating. It's tough, but I am continuously trying to focus on the elements that I can control--the book I write, my edits, what I'm doing to connect with readers, etc.

Similarly with resolutions in 2014, I'm going to focus on what I can control. Instead of listing resolutions that are results, like "lose 10 pounds" or "sell another book" I'm going to focus on the smaller steps, my behaviors. Of course I'll be happy if those things in turn influence the results I might have wanted, but in the end I want to be able to be happy and feel rewarded with the effort I'm putting forward.

So here are my 2014 Resolutions

1. Work out 3-5 times a week.
I've already been doing this--only for a few weeks, but I'm quite pleased with myself. I got a jawbone as an early Christmas present and it's been helping me keep track of my life.

The truth is, I really love food and sitting and television and sugar. But sometimes it makes me feel like a big lump. As much as I hate getting out of bed early (or anytime really) I do always feel more energized and happier after working out.

Oh and I wanted to be ambitious and just say five times a week, but let's face it, some weeks are going to be crazier than others.

2. Get 7-8 hrs of sleep each night.
This is again inspired by the jawbone--it's amazing to see your sleep patterns!

(mine are admittedly not that great)

When I was in high school I got up every morning to go to swim practice at 5 am (I still hate getting wet in the morning, it's like I have flashbacks to those winter mornings walking into first period and discovering my hair was frozen). I could go to bed at midnight and sleep for five hours and be totally fine. Now, not so much. I do a lot of "catching up with sleep" on the weekends which often can make me feel like said lump. I want to make an effort to go to bed earlier and get enough sleep so I'm not sleeping the day away on Sundays.

3. Draft 2 new novels.
Being published has made me a slower writer. I think it's all the extra things that go into publishing like extra content and blog posts and interviews and being a part of social media. Oh, and edits. Those can take a long time too.

But it's more than that. Doubt and insecurity can really paralyze you even more when published than when it might have beforehand. Things like negative reviews or disappointing sales figures sometimes sit in the back of my mind and make me worry about what people will think of this newest book idea. At the same time, even the good stuff like great reviews or wonderful fans can inspire that pressure: what if they don't like this book as much as they liked the last one, what if I let them down?

I never thought about those things before--I was too focused on the story. I was writing because I loved writing and because I believed in the characters and the story and the world. I want to get back to that, focus on the writing and the story. Everything else can come later.

4. Blog 1-2 times a week with pictures!
I got a new camera for Christmas. This makes me want to get back to taking more pictures. Sure I've taken pictures with my phone for the last few years but it's not really the same. There's something about a real camera that makes taking pictures much more fun.

I've also recently discovered The Londoner. She has a great blog with everything from fashion to food to travel. Her blog reminded me what I liked about blogging before I sold my first book. It's journaling for the internet.

As someone who's always been rather shy, I still haven't quite mastered twitter. And selling a novel can make social media a strange water to navigate. The past couple years I've felt so unsure about finding the right balance between talking about my book and not annoying people with it, and this holiday I realized I'm thinking too much. I want to blog and share pictures and feel inspired via social media. I want to put myself out there more. This is how I'm going to start.

5. Learn common phrases in Italian.
Last year I went to the Bologna Book Fair. It was awesome. It was a great excuse to go to Italy for my birthday and eat a lot of food and even treat myself to a new purse.

The trip wasn't exactly last minute but it wasn't really well planned on my part either. I was busy and I didn't think about things like dinner reservations or how I would communicate with my cab driver.

I realized when I arrived that I was that American, the one who goes to another country and expects everyone else to speak English. This was particularly noticeable when I was in a cab and headed to dinner. I was struggling to converse with a super friendly and awesome driver. He kept apologizing for his "poor English" which let's face it, was way better than my non-existent Italian.

This year, I want to do better. I'm doubt I'll master the language very quickly or work any miracles in a few months but I want to be able to ask for directions, order my food, explain where I'm going and maybe even buy another purse.

Some honorable mentions or things that almost made this list are eating more vegetables, reading more non-fiction, and taking these beasts for longer walks.

After all, they lay around a lot and I don't want them feeling like lumps either.